“Jimmy Choo Never Designed a Single Shoe” – Company Co-Founder Speaks Out

There’s no catfight quite like a catwalk catfight.

The fashion industry is littered with rivalries and some of the more bitter ones exist between former co-workers. It’s well known that designer Jimmy Choo and his former business partner Tamara Mellon don’t exactly see eye to eye, but Tamara has thrown further fuel on the fire with a recent claim that Choo never designed the shoes he made famous.

Speaking to promote the launch of her autobiography ‘In Her Shoes’, Mellon told the Today show; “The original idea was for Jimmy to design the collection, and I would run the operations of the business.

“But it soon became very clear that Jimmy's skill was in making shoes. He's a cobbler.”

In her book, Mellon wrote; “By the end of 2000, Jimmy Choo was turning a profit of around £3 million a year.

"We had our own London boutique and were represented at 450 more stores, including Harrods and Selfridges. To top it off, we'd won a British Fashion Council Award, which Jimmy insisted on accepting on our behalf, even though his design contribution had been nil."

Choo sold his 50 per cent stake in the business back in 2001.